Also elected during the maiden session of the Limbe City Council under the special status dispensation were Karen Nora Muto Tango from the Limbe III Council and Emmanuel Kouontchou from the Limbe I Council as first and second Deputy City Mayors respectively.

Born on August 15, 1959 in Mokundange, Limbe II Subdivision, Motanga quickly acquired education and grew up the ranks of society to distinguish himself as a solid administrator and stoic politician.

Aside serving the public service in varied capacities, Motanga was elected President of the then Fako I Section of the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM, in 2002. In the same year, he was elected to the office of Chairman of the then Limbe Urban Council, a position he held until 2007 when Limbe was split into three sub-divisional councils.

After the 2007 twin municipal and legislative elections, Motanga was elected pioneer Mayor of the Limbe II Council. Following presidential decree no. 2009/058 of February 6, 2009, Motanga was appointed pioneer Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council, a post he held until February 25, 2020 when he was elected pioneer City Major.

The family man and father of several children is pioneer President of the Fako IA CPDM Section. The sagacity, so far, displayed by this CPDM apologist in the political terrain has left many people – from all walks of life – either in a pensive or cheerful mood. 

Motanga’s political forward-march towards the sky- from a simple CPDM militant, to CPDM Fako I Section President from 2002, to Section President of Fako IA in 2015 following a split of Fako I (Limbe) into three CPDM Sections, to pioneer Mayor of the Limbe II Council, pioneer Government Delegate to the Limbe City Council in 2009 and today pioneer City Mayor leaves his critics speechless and confused.

There is no doubt that, his political leap forward   is also attracting more admirers especially among the youth, who are tomorrow’s leaders.

It is no exaggeration to say that, Motanga is a household name in Cameroon’s political landscape. Like in the CPDM, members of other political parties [like the UPC President for South West and ex-Limbe SDF boss], across the national territory, see merit in his courage and sense of commitment.

Even in political circles, Motanga is seen as a man of few words but of very positive action.

Through his towering achievements – whether as a local party leader or Government Delegate, as well as his silent-achieving nature and power of persuasion, he has won the hearts of many.

He has succeeded to make Limbe a CPDM bastion, politically banishing the opposition through his open-door policy and community outreach. He is one political figure who attends to the needs of the entire locality.

Even after achieving so much, Motanga is quiet and does not filibuster about his exploits – forcing many who know him to celebrate his unpredictability, a quality that today gave him the requisite votes to transit from Government Delegate to City Mayor after eleven years.

This may well be part of the reason why the current socio-political crisis rocking the North West and South West Regions has had its effects mitigated in the town of friendship.

The shrewd political planner who abhors loquaciousness and boastfulness is said to have a fine mastery and control of the CPDM in Limbe. Though the Fako I Section he led was split into three and he now heads only one fraction, his influence and aura covers the other sections.

Many who see in him a fatherly figure also say he is a unifying factor and rallying force. He believes in victory, is determined and focused, most of the times, on goals, and not people, as his guiding principles.

It is apparently for this reason and more that he has earned several recognitions among them the titles of ‘Ekoka Moto’, ‘Ndum Nneh Akaseng’, and ‘Tchamgal’.

His efforts in building a better Limbe for all got him the ‘Ekoka Moto’ title from the custodians of the Bakweri Culture and Tradition. Limbe Chiefs grouped under the banner of the Limbe Chiefs’ Conference on February 13, 2016 conferred on Motanga the most coveted ‘Ekoka Moto’ title.

It was on May 12, 2018 that Manyu kingmakers and elements of the Manyu community in Limbe decorated Limbe’s go-getter with the ‘Ndum Nneh Akaseng’ title. For, as they put it, he is a father who does not discriminate. While on a working visit to Ngaoundere in 2017, the Lamido of Ngaoundere, Hamadou Hayatou Issa raised Motanga to the class of notables when he decorated him with the ‘Tchamgal’ title.

This career administrator-cum politician, who holds several certificates and professional diplomas, had before worked dutifully in several capacities.

But Motanga’s friends have testified that he developed such soft spot for party politics and fell for the ruling CPDM.

He remains a pace-setter, championing the Limbe Festival of Arts and Culture, Limbe FESTAC as well as his brain child, the multi-billion futuristic Limbe Left Bank Maritime Project among the ways he seeks to give back to a town that has done him well.